The Playground Legends Project establishes the future of fun through reworked playground/underground sports. Interested students will receive an invitation to attend an information session to learn the particulars of our tournament sports. They will then be encouraged to practice their skills at recess. Students will then compete against others in their grade to crown a playground legend champion! Check out our hall of fame here: theplaygroundlegends.weebly.com/hall-of-fame.html
Be on the lookout for student media projects promoting Playground Legends Tournaments. Students will utilize their burgeoning media skills to create print, radio, and television advertisements through a yearlong media campaign. Missed an advertisement? Check them out here: theplaygroundlegends.weebly.com/media-campaign.html
Be on the lookout for student media projects promoting Playground Legends Tournaments. Students will utilize their burgeoning media skills to create print, radio, and television advertisements through a yearlong media campaign. Missed an advertisement? Check them out here: theplaygroundlegends.weebly.com/media-campaign.html
Red Ace
Wall Ball
Royal Rumble Gaga Ball
European Handball
Running Bases
Eraser Football
Bench Ball or Pinball
Cucumber Ball
American Gladiator
Floor Hockey
4 Corner Soccer
Home Run Derby
"Footsball"
Flag Football
Baseball 5 baseball5.wbsc.org/documents/Baseball5_Rulebook_ENG.pdf
Keepy Uppy
Wall Ball
Royal Rumble Gaga Ball
European Handball
Running Bases
Eraser Football
Bench Ball or Pinball
Cucumber Ball
American Gladiator
Floor Hockey
4 Corner Soccer
Home Run Derby
"Footsball"
Flag Football
Baseball 5 baseball5.wbsc.org/documents/Baseball5_Rulebook_ENG.pdf
Keepy Uppy
As it stands now, we will be running our cross grade (3-8) tournaments once a week for 4 weeks. Students are expected to arrive at the gym with proper gym attire and shoes and will complete our "1-2-3" dynamic stretch/warm up.
While waiting for others to show up, students are expected to sit safely on the gym stage.
Gracious/fair play is a must! The primary goals are to stay active, have fun and to play competitively while respecting others' safety and abilities!
While waiting for others to show up, students are expected to sit safely on the gym stage.
Gracious/fair play is a must! The primary goals are to stay active, have fun and to play competitively while respecting others' safety and abilities!
Childhood obesity rates are skyrocketing due in large part to cultural and technological shifts. Anxiety and behavioural issues (in and out of school) are increasing exponentially as well. Significant research clearly ties anxiety and behavioural issues with sedentary lifestyle choices. Needless to say, this puts further strain on education and health systems already at their breaking points. Naturally, many have looked towards boosting youth involvement in sports programs to improve physical and mental well-being. But there are financial equity issues related to participation. Expensive sports equipment coupled with team costs and travel requirements make such a solution prohibitive to many. We have also seen urban sprawl encroach upon traditional suburban recreational spaces.
We clearly find our best selves through a balance between work and play. Yet we have a system which values work and obedience above all else and neglects to reveal the importance or provide the opportunities to practice constructive play. "Generation Alpha" children who are the roots of our future are suffering greatly. Too often, they head outside for recess and are at a loss as to what to do with their time. They complain frequently of listless weekends and resign themselves to the familiar yet stultifying confines of a (t)ech(n)o chamber screen culture. bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-018-5295-y
The Playground Legends Project seeks to tackle physical and mental health issues prevalent within our school community simultaneously through the aforementioned dynamic, multi-disciplinary approach. We hope to eventually assist communities abroad as well!
Organized “traditional” sports do not always work for everyone. The level of coaching expertise and pedagogical approaches can differ wildly and a team's climate can be contentious and political taking away from one's opportunity to escape the trials and tribulations of life rather than adding to it. "Armchair quarterback” coaches try to impose their approximations and interpretations of what they were exposed to often forcing a cookie cutter/one size fits all approach that can threaten participation, excitement, physical well-being, and imagination let alone problem solving. The Playground Legends Project also emphasizes pick up sports play and tournaments with flexible rules and/or negotiable adjustments that can take into account the numbers, abilities, and personalities of those involved in pick up sports play. A cornerstone for this project is that: “The greatest teacher is play”. Our playground is our canvas and it is through concrete feedback that we can best learn to dream, thrive and to cooperate with like-minded individuals. York Region District School Board's renewed emphasis on primary play based learning backs our beliefs.
Once again drawing upon my own personal experiences, I have imparted to students how I honed my abilities to problem solve with peers best through pick up play rather than through the highly structured and sometimes suffocating bounds of organized team sports. Fluid rules and accommodations served as great equalizers and with equal access and footing, everyone could enjoy being up to bat with the game on the line in game 7 of the World Series. Sandlot competition was relished because steel sharpens steel and there was always a tomorrow. Competition is a reality of life that children need to experience rather than be protected from and in life not everyone wins...but everyone learns. The playground milieu left me better equipped at navigating and adapting to organized sports and structured work life as it left me battle tested and adaptable with so many wins and losses against different characters notching my belt.
Over the past 19 years, students have been invited to participate in playing pick-up sports several times a week. Some recent examples of our resounding successes are our versions of Pickle Ball and Gaga Ball known as Cucumber Ball and Royal Rumble Gaga Ball respectively! Through our flexible play, children gain greater confidence while interacting with peers, problem solving, and receiving “horizontal” praise rather than the typical top/down-adult/child validation seen on a day-to-day basis.
Seminal programs such as Participaction and Right to Play have certainly influenced aspects of The Playground Legends. But it is Shawn Green’s unpacking of meditation through movement in his book “The Way of Baseball” and the ethos contained within “Outsider Baseball” written by author and illustrator Gary Cieradkowski that truly capture the importance of personalized play. Life is hectic, loud, and unyielding. The Playground Legends has taught hundreds of kids that both physical and mental self care can be accessed through independent athletic pursuits as well as imaginative/flexible group pick up play.
Club sessions strike upon provincial physical and health education expectations while our yearly clothing sale fundraisers also address media literacy expectations. Famed street artist and musician Mr. Kaves (www.mrkaves.com), author/illustrator/graphic designer Gary Cieradkowski (studiogaryc.com), and graphic designer Diane Faye (www.fayeandco.com) have previously assisted club participants with logo art for our club clothing fundraise drives. We have successfully sold our clothing at a small premium (bake sale model) with proceeds going towards supporting club goals and experiences. We have also incorporated a literacy component into the club! Students have enjoyed the company and professional writing expertise provided by the likes of Peter Abraham, Amalie Benjamin, John Tomase, and Chad Finn. These famed sports writers and television personalities have provided club members with invaluable exposure to where literacy intersects with media and communication. Through the club, participants have also had the opportunity to meet members of the Boston Red Sox and have benefited from assistance from the Topps Trading Card Company, Panini America, Baseball Canada, Routine Baseball, Baseballism, Johnny Cupcakes, Wilson Baseball, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and Hashtag Paid (to name a few).
Here are some links providing you a sense of some of the acknowledgement that we have received in years past:
www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2010/04/richmond_rose_s.html
www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2012/06/thanks_for_all.html
www.thestar.com/life/parent/2009/10/01/more_than_150_teachers_nominated_for_star_award.html
Many more links, photos, etc. are available upon request.
We clearly find our best selves through a balance between work and play. Yet we have a system which values work and obedience above all else and neglects to reveal the importance or provide the opportunities to practice constructive play. "Generation Alpha" children who are the roots of our future are suffering greatly. Too often, they head outside for recess and are at a loss as to what to do with their time. They complain frequently of listless weekends and resign themselves to the familiar yet stultifying confines of a (t)ech(n)o chamber screen culture. bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-018-5295-y
The Playground Legends Project seeks to tackle physical and mental health issues prevalent within our school community simultaneously through the aforementioned dynamic, multi-disciplinary approach. We hope to eventually assist communities abroad as well!
Organized “traditional” sports do not always work for everyone. The level of coaching expertise and pedagogical approaches can differ wildly and a team's climate can be contentious and political taking away from one's opportunity to escape the trials and tribulations of life rather than adding to it. "Armchair quarterback” coaches try to impose their approximations and interpretations of what they were exposed to often forcing a cookie cutter/one size fits all approach that can threaten participation, excitement, physical well-being, and imagination let alone problem solving. The Playground Legends Project also emphasizes pick up sports play and tournaments with flexible rules and/or negotiable adjustments that can take into account the numbers, abilities, and personalities of those involved in pick up sports play. A cornerstone for this project is that: “The greatest teacher is play”. Our playground is our canvas and it is through concrete feedback that we can best learn to dream, thrive and to cooperate with like-minded individuals. York Region District School Board's renewed emphasis on primary play based learning backs our beliefs.
Once again drawing upon my own personal experiences, I have imparted to students how I honed my abilities to problem solve with peers best through pick up play rather than through the highly structured and sometimes suffocating bounds of organized team sports. Fluid rules and accommodations served as great equalizers and with equal access and footing, everyone could enjoy being up to bat with the game on the line in game 7 of the World Series. Sandlot competition was relished because steel sharpens steel and there was always a tomorrow. Competition is a reality of life that children need to experience rather than be protected from and in life not everyone wins...but everyone learns. The playground milieu left me better equipped at navigating and adapting to organized sports and structured work life as it left me battle tested and adaptable with so many wins and losses against different characters notching my belt.
Over the past 19 years, students have been invited to participate in playing pick-up sports several times a week. Some recent examples of our resounding successes are our versions of Pickle Ball and Gaga Ball known as Cucumber Ball and Royal Rumble Gaga Ball respectively! Through our flexible play, children gain greater confidence while interacting with peers, problem solving, and receiving “horizontal” praise rather than the typical top/down-adult/child validation seen on a day-to-day basis.
Seminal programs such as Participaction and Right to Play have certainly influenced aspects of The Playground Legends. But it is Shawn Green’s unpacking of meditation through movement in his book “The Way of Baseball” and the ethos contained within “Outsider Baseball” written by author and illustrator Gary Cieradkowski that truly capture the importance of personalized play. Life is hectic, loud, and unyielding. The Playground Legends has taught hundreds of kids that both physical and mental self care can be accessed through independent athletic pursuits as well as imaginative/flexible group pick up play.
Club sessions strike upon provincial physical and health education expectations while our yearly clothing sale fundraisers also address media literacy expectations. Famed street artist and musician Mr. Kaves (www.mrkaves.com), author/illustrator/graphic designer Gary Cieradkowski (studiogaryc.com), and graphic designer Diane Faye (www.fayeandco.com) have previously assisted club participants with logo art for our club clothing fundraise drives. We have successfully sold our clothing at a small premium (bake sale model) with proceeds going towards supporting club goals and experiences. We have also incorporated a literacy component into the club! Students have enjoyed the company and professional writing expertise provided by the likes of Peter Abraham, Amalie Benjamin, John Tomase, and Chad Finn. These famed sports writers and television personalities have provided club members with invaluable exposure to where literacy intersects with media and communication. Through the club, participants have also had the opportunity to meet members of the Boston Red Sox and have benefited from assistance from the Topps Trading Card Company, Panini America, Baseball Canada, Routine Baseball, Baseballism, Johnny Cupcakes, Wilson Baseball, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and Hashtag Paid (to name a few).
Here are some links providing you a sense of some of the acknowledgement that we have received in years past:
www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2010/04/richmond_rose_s.html
www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2012/06/thanks_for_all.html
www.thestar.com/life/parent/2009/10/01/more_than_150_teachers_nominated_for_star_award.html
Many more links, photos, etc. are available upon request.